Innehållsförteckning för April 2025 från The Classic MotorCycle

The accompanying picture was part of a feature in the April 28, 1932 edition of The Motor Cycle, entitled ‘Showing the public the 15s tax lightweights.’ Our photograph was taken in Luton, and captioned: “The convoy parked in Luton, in an alleyway just off the main street.” Luton was one of the stops near the end of the tour, all undertaken on these sub-150cc machines. In his March 1931 budget speech, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Snowden announced the half rate tax of 15s (so 75p in ‘new money’) for motorcycles under 150cc, in a move to try and help the general public, as well as motorcycle makers, all of which were struggling in tough economic climes. The new legislation came into place on January 1, 1932, with over a…

“You know they say that the single carb Triumph Tiger is the thinking man’s Bonneville?” laughed Tim Ainslie. “Well, the TR65 Thunderbird is the thinking man’s Tiger!” Tim may well have a point, but at this point, full disclosure: a) he’s a good friend of mine, who rebuilt the engine on my current 1972 T120R Bonnie; and b) I don’t need convincing about the 1980-82 Thunderbird 650s, as I owned one a few years back, and only traded it in to get my Guzzi V7. Thunderfacts These late 650s are something of a cult bike, partly due to the fact that only about 400 were built in the dying days of Meriden. They were originally offered as a budget twin, £200 cheaper than the 750cc T140 Bonneville; with a single…

Though later Norton ES2s were regarded as sensible, middle-of-the-road motorcycles, the model was initially launched as a hot-stuff sportster, making its bow at the same time as the CS1 (Cam Shaft 1) and effectively being an overhead valve version of the range-topping cammy, the ES2 sharing with the CS1 its running gear, including the new three-stay frame and TT Webb forks. There’s long been debate about ES2s (although they didn’t even have a name at that point) in the 1927 Senior TT (an event in which the CS1 made a race-winning debut, thanks to Stanley Woods) and the model’s participation, while Bonhams have, in their April 27, 2025 sale, one of the earliest ES2s extant – a machine used in the 1927 Amateur TT, the forerunner to the Manx GP.…

What are the most famous three letters used as a model name for a motorcycle, particularly a racer? Well, for those of us with an interest in older classics, it must be ‘KTT’, and surely up there with the later NSR, YZR and RGV, as used by Honda, Yamaha and Suzuki respectively, in terms of fame. British makers tended to use a mixture of numbers and letters (I’m thinking Model 18, TT90, 7R) or a name (Manx, Ulster etc) rather than initials – KTT of course meaning ‘Kamshaft Tourist Trophy’. Though it was 1929 before the first KTT was officially launched, the letters had been applied before to a Velocette, as witnessed by photographic evidence at the 1926 Olympia motorcycle show, where a machine was displayed with a ‘Model KTT…

Body text: A couple of planned activities meant the MZ hadn’t received any attention for a couple of weeks. One of said activities, however, was a Sunday morning ride-out with friends Jon and Paul. It followed our usual MO of taking an indirect route round the quiet lanes of Suffolk and/or Norfolk to a suitable breakfast spot for a sausage sarnie and a good chin wag; I on my modern bike, Paul on his Moto Guzzi V7 Sport and Jon on a recently acquired Ducati Scrambler 350. Conversation quickly turned towards how I was getting on with the MZ, and resulted in the revelation that Jon has a hydraulic press in his workshop, and that I’d be very welcome to pop over and press apart the crank and assess any…

Multigrade mineral oils When development of multigrade oils began is unclear, though the first multigrade oils were introduced circa 1950 and became commercially available 1953-1954. As we know, a multigrade oil fulfils the role of two oils and the first multigrade identification system appeared in 1955, indicating its viscosity range. Taking common examples of 20/50 or 10/30, which may be expressed as 20W/50 or 10W/50. The 20 (or 10 etc) before the oblique indicates the ‘cold’ start up viscosity of the oil; if included, the ‘W’ relates to the winter temperature start up viscosity. The figures 50 or 30 after the oblique indicate the viscosity of the oil at ‘normal’ hot running temperature. These figures relate to the viscosity of a straight grade oil at temperatures implied. There are ‘ifs’…

Published in the June 14, 1956 issue, this picture had the accompanying caption: “Impressive line-up; The Motor Cycle staff machines in the Island comprised a Dominator 99 Norton, a 197cc two-stoke DMW, a 98cc DMW Bambi, a 147cc James Cadet with the new, optional, grey finish and a 646cc BSA Road Rocket.” The Dominator was the machine being used by ex-racer and road tester Vic Willoughby, in the picture here wearing his crash helmet, which is revealed as it is referred to in a feature, where Willoughby rides machines that have just starred in the TT races. More specifically, in the story of when he tests the two-stroke Montesa, examples of which had just finished second, third and fourth behind Carlo Ubbiali’s four-stroke MV Agusta in the Lightweight 125cc race.…

Just like its now endangered four-legged namesake, a Panther is a rare sight these days. I suppose you could put that down to the waning popularity of sidecar outfits; something the big cats have become synonymous with over the years. In fact, even makers Phelon & Moore were once quoted as saying that 90% of their 594cc Model 100s would end up attached to a chair. Though it was perhaps not the vocation founders Joah ‘John’ Carver Phelon and Richard Moore would have wished for their then top-of-the-line, fast-touring models, the Panther heavyweights’ prevalence as sidecar pullers was something they embraced. The Model 100’s successor – the 645cc Model 120 – was produced with sidecar gearing and sidecar fork-trail as standard; solo gearing being a free-of-charge factory option. Even with…

Love him or loathe him (and there were plenty who did), Dr Josef Ehrlich was a true original. Volatile but inventive, constantly coming up with new ideas and innovative designs right up until his death in September 2003 at the age of 88, the sprightly, dapper engineer universally known as ‘Dr Joe’ was involved with motorcycles all his life, ever since the early 1930s when, in between earning his Doctorate in Mechanical Engineering in Austria, he competed in sand track and road races on a 250cc Puch two-stroke and OHV 500cc Sunbeam. Like so many people forming part of that vast tide of refugees from political and religious oppression which has poured into Great Britain over the past century, Joe Ehrlich was an ultra-Brit, passionately committed to keeping the Union…

For those with a basic knowledge of the post-Second World War Italian motorcycle industry, the story of Motom will be a familiar one; an established prewar concern (in their case textiles and printing) diversifying into the production of affordable motorised transportation to meet the growing demand. Unlike most, the De Angeli-Frua (named after the two founding families) firm’s factory on the outskirts of Milan was left untouched by the bombing – it wasn’t considered strategically important to the enemy, nor was it located near to anything that was. So when many concerns were, well, concerned with rebuilding or relocation, they could focus wholly on restarting production. Initially that would mean back to business as usual (the textile production and printing end of the business would continue into the late 1960s),…

The classic off-road scene seems to be doing very well thank you, especially if attendance and events (see our Talmag Trial report, page 62), and the success of this, the movement’s ‘big show,’ is anything to go by. Held over the weekend of February 8/9, showgoer numbers were strong. A date clash with an event at Hawkstone Park on the Sunday somewhat accounted for the especially high visitor figures at the show on the Saturday, as many went racing the next day. Held at the airy, spacious and well-presented (and well-signposted) Telford International Centre exhibition space, which boasts onsite parking, but is also handily right next to a large multi-storey carpark, the show brings together all of the ‘dirty’ off-road sports, with motocross/scrambling and trials the best represented, albeit there…

Sitting in the evening sun with photographer Terry Joslin, awaiting the arrival of our test machine, which Terry had told me was to be a Norton ES2, the motorcycle approaching from our rear sounded to be anything but a big British, low revving single. Glancing to my left as it pulled up I thought for one moment it was a ‘Yellow Peril’ Norton/Norvil Commando production racer from the 1970s, and that I had misheard the test details. Or that it was just a rider who had stopped to see what was going on, nothing to do with what we were awaiting. Anyway, on standing up to view the machine, as the owner and builder Steve Jones took off his helmet, I realised I was looking at something special that may…

January 2025 saw the Talmag Trophy Trial celebrating its 50th anniversary as the premier event for four-stroke trials bikes. Interestingly, to promote it, the organisers’ Facebook page showed an image of a programme from May 1950 for the Talmag ‘Scramble’ at Hungry Hill, costing one shilling. Hungry Hill, part of the Ministry of Defence (MoD) land at Aldershot in Hampshire, has of course been the main location of the event, created after it was felt that trials sections were getting too tight and nadgery for the larger machines as a result of the increasing sales of predominately Spanish lightweight two-strokes. So the organising club created an event that would allow the ‘big bangers’ to use their performance on longer climbs and more open sections, more reminiscent of the early days…

THE SPECIALIST Burton Bike Bits has been securing NOS spares for many years. The business also supplies secondhand parts, or commissions replacements. The product lines have expanded so much as to force changes of address to keep accommodating everything. Carolyne, daughter of the business’s founder, has been looking after the stock for many a year, and we thank her for helping out with this guide. ■ Burton Bike Bits: 01530 564362; www.britishbikebits.com MODEL HISTORY After BSA’s first half-litre twin was considerably revised for 1950, it became a catalogue stalwart for the next 12 years, until the A50 was announced for 1962. By then, electrical suppliers Lucas had decreed dynamos and magnetos would henceforth no longer be mainstream product lines. Unit construction allowed clean lines to the power unit, mirrored in…

In the old days of the 1970s, we used to be able to find all sorts of stuff on autojumble stalls, things which we should have bought because it was genuine and in good condition… but we didn’t because the prices were ridiculous… The conversation would go “A pound? A whole pound for one of them? They were 3/6 in the day… not paying a £1…” and we’d move on. Now, it often seems there’s nothing on an autojumble stand for under £20, and, anyway, if it is keenly-priced and decent, then the bloke in front gets it before I do. Just such a scenario happened at the Classic Dirt Bike show the other weekend. On the hunt for bits, everything seen was picked up by the lad two in…